Teaching Science IRL

 

Back to school time is both a scary and exciting time of the year for me. It’s scary when I think about the hard work and exhaustion the school year involves but I also feel the excitement of having brand new classes and students, seeing my colleagues again, and getting my classroom set up. When I first started teaching the first week was extremely hard to plan out. I’m so glad that I did my student teaching in during the fall semester instead of the spring semester (which was traditional in my college) because this gave me some ideas for how to structure my first couple of days of school. 4 years later, and after much trial and error, I feel like I’ve got a system down for a smooth first couple of days of school.

Below I’ve listed 6 things I do in all my classes in the first week of school. Now, these are things other than the standard going of the syllabus, setting up class rules, and handing out textbooks. These are little activities that I like to do to ease into the school year and that I’ve found that help me get to know my students, help them get to know me and each other, and give them an introduction to what my class will be like. Some of them also help me get set up at the beginning of the school year and help me see what academic skills or knowledge my students are coming to class with. Most of these ideas are not my own, but came from various teachers I’ve had or worked with. So if you’re looking for some simple things to do the first week of school read on!

 

1. Notecards: I got this idea from my cooperating teaching during student teaching. The first day of school I give each student notecard and I have them write their name, their grade, and something about them on the card. Usually the something about them is something like, what is your favorite shoe or in between meals snack or color. I stay away from things like favorite TV show or movie or music which I feel makes student reveal too much of themselves before they know me or each other. (I would have been too embarrassed and shy to say what my favorite movie was in high school!). We then go around the room and share names and what they wrote on their cards. It helps me remember student names and get to know them just a little bit. Plus I keep those cards all year long and use them to randomly call on kids or divide them into lab groups!

 

2. Student Survey: I used to use student surveys as a time filler and didn’t really take them seriously. I would glance over them during the first week of school, but never really read them purposefully. I realize now that student surveys can be powerful tools for getting to know students right at the beginning of the year. Today I truly believe that the key to a positive classroom environment is to build strong relationships with students and surveys are the first part of that. I make my student surveys short so that they don’t take too long to read but I try to put meaningful questions that go beyond what is your favorite food and color ect. Questions that help give me a glimpse into who they are.

 

3. Games: I like play a short game with all my classes during the first or second day of school. I change it up depending on the class and the age group and I use it as a low stakes way to get kids thinking and/or talking to each other. I also think it helps break the ice and ease tensions on the first day. In one class I just do a simple trivia game that they work on with partners. I have also done classmate bingo (you can find a template here: https://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/bingo.doc) and this dice game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqqnhnOqATY) which I love! The 4 questions they have to answer are questions about the other people in the group such as “What does the person across from you like to eat for breakfast?” or “What is one thing the person to your right like to do as a hobby?”

 

4. Misconception Quiz: I got this idea from one of my college professors and I LOVE IT! Plus it’s incredibly relevant if you teach science! All you have to do is look up common misconceptions in science and put 10-15 of those misconceptions onto a piece of paper in the form of true/false questions. I try to pick things that I think kids believe. (My favorite it: “True or false: gluten is a processed ingredient used in unhealthy foods”. Most students will say true.) Have your students take that quiz and then go over the answers with them. Usually they are surprised by how many of the facts they through were true really are not. I then ask them why they think I would have them take this quiz and we discuss how basic scientific knowledge is important.

 

5. Read: I like to get a grasp on my students’ reading comprehension skills right away. Within the first week, I pull out an article and have the class read it out loud together. I call on students randomly to read out loud and the rest follow along so that if I call their name, they are ready to pick up reading. After reading the whole article out loud, we talk about the main idea of the article and then I have them answer some basic multiple-choice questions that deal with reading comprehension. This allows me to see where their reading skills are at and helps me take note of any students who appear to be below the appropriate reading level right away.

6. Academic Integrity: This is something new that I am trying this year and the idea that came from Kevin Patton of the AP Professor blog. I HATE it when I catch or find out that kids have cheated on assignments I give them and this year I want to be proactive about academic dishonesty and use it as a teaching moment. This year I am going to specifically explain 3 was that students can be dishonest and how it is damaging to me, their classmates, and themselves. They are then going to sign a contract about maintaining academic integrity. You can read more about addressing academic integrity here: https://theapstudent.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-be-honest.html

As a high school teacher, I always felt the pressure to jump to content right away. And while I do believe getting into content is important,  I now like to spend the first couple of days intentionally getting to know my students and setting up my expectations for the year. I would love to hear what other teachers do! How do you structure your first week of school?

Again, the start of the year of the year can be incredibly stressful, scary, and overwhelming but it can also be a lot of fun with the anticipation of a brand new class of students. I hope you all start this school year feeling strong and ready to meet and connect with your new (or returning!) kids. Best of luck to you all!